1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the measurement of fluids absorbed in surgical sponges.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various sponges are used during surgical procedures to absorb blood and other fluids utilized during the operation. One problem which occurs is that the amount of blood lost during the procedure must be tracked. Some of the blood is suctioned direction into a graduated cylinder for measurement, but some blood is always lost under the various drapes and on the floor and some blood is absorbed in the sponges used during the procedure. Some estimate of the blood absorbed by the sponges thus needs to be made. Conventionally the estimate is made merely by a visual inspection of the sponges, but this technique is highly prone to error. In some instances the absorbed blood estimate is more important, such as in critically ill patients, children and patients being evaluated for blood transfusion therapy. In these instances the sponges are individually weighed. However, this conventionally is a tedious process. Additionally, because the scale used in weighing the sponges produces a weight reading, calculations must be performed to translate the weight to a volume measurement, introducing an additional error location. Thus it is relatively common that only very rough estimates, or even in some cases, no track at all, is kept of the blood absorbed by the sponge.